Caught!
by Light-Eco-Sage
Summary: A series of continuous one-shots about Inuyasha being caught doing embarrassing canine things! Chapter 4: Inuyasha devolops an urge to mark what is his, and it ain't Kagome. Lots of humor, mild-to-moderate language, and romance InuKag, MirSan
1. Lunar Howl

**Caught!**

**By Light-Eco-Sage**

**Rated: T for language, "potty humor" and a little romance. But mostly for safety. Rating may go up in later one-shots.**

**Pairings: InuKag and MirSan**

**Summary: A series of (connected) one-shots about Inuyasha being caught doing embarrassing canine things. Dog instincts will out and make humans do stupid things!**

**Disclaimer: I swear on the life of my dog that I neither own Inuyasha, not do I make money off these fics.**

**LES: First up! Being aware of the lunar phases is very important to Inuyasha… but ****how**** important?**

* * *

**Chapter I: Lunar Howl**

It was a seemingly ordinary night in the wilderness of the Feudal Era. With the combined light of the full moon and the small campfire boiling water for ramen, the small group of travelers hunting for the Shikon Jewel shards had plenty of light with which to see by.

Kagome, who was in charge of cooking the ramen, looking up from the cups that she had prepared. "Okay, the ramen is done."

Miroku, Sango, and Shippo expressed their thanks as they each grabbed a cup of instant noodles.

It was only then that Kagome noticed that something was wrong. There were three cups left. One belonged to her, but the other two were for the resident hanyou of their group who happened to be addicted to ramen.

It's true that he had taken off into the forest alone earlier, but the smell of the salty noodles surely would draw the hanyou back like a moth to a flame. Several seconds passed, and no hanyou crashed through the woods, demanding his ramen. That in itself was like the world was going to reach a premature end.

"Hey, have you guys seen Inuyasha?" Kagome asked the others.

"He took off into the woods a while ago." Shippo said, swallowing his noodles. "Maybe he saw some of Kikyo's Soul-Collectors."

"None of us saw anything." Miroku pointed out. "We would have sensed their slight demonic aura."

"Yeah, but it's not like Inuyasha to not show up when there's ramen." Kagome said. "He'd tear through a Yokai army just to get ramen."

"I believe that there's nothing to worry about." Miroku said. "It's not like he hasn't ever wandered off before, and Inuyasha _can_ take care of himself. He probably just needs some… alone time."

The lecherous overtones of the comment was not lost on the two older ones in the group. Sango wacked him upside the head. "Just because you're a pervert doesn't mean Inuyasha is!"

"But it's perfectly natural…"

But Kagome had to agree with Sango. She had never seen the hanyou display even the slightest sexual libido. _That could be why he runs off… like Miroku said…_ Kagome thought to herself, and then squashed the idea.

"Guys, I'm kind of worried about him." Kagome said, standing up. "I'm going to go look for him."

"I don't think it's wise to walk in on…" Miroku was quickly silenced once again, this time from Sango's heavy Hiraikotsu instead of her fist.

"Go and find him, then. Maybe he just hasn't smelled the ramen." Sango said.

Kagome nodded her appreciation towards her friend, grabbed a flashlight from her enormous, worn yellow backpack, and headed off into the woods alone.

She didn't call out to the hanyou, because she knew that he never responded to such calls. She also considered 'sitting' him and listening to his cry of dismay to track him. But that sort of thing fell directly under the category of 'abuse'. And that was something she had sworn not to do since she had fallen in love with him.

So she continued her lone search for about a half an hour with little luck. She was about to give up and trust Inuyasha to take care of himself, when she stumbled upon a small clearing. She took in the scene and quickly ducked back into the shadows of the forest.

Inuyasha was in the middle of the clearing, sitting in his typical 'doggie squat'. He seemed to be staring up thoughtfully at the full moon.

_At least Kikyo's not here._ Kagome breathed a sigh of relief. _But… shouldn't he smell me by now? I'm less than fifty feet away from him._ But, whether or not he noticed her, he didn't acknowledge her.

Since she seemed to be unnoticed, she took a private moment to simply admire her hanyou.

Ever since she had first seen him, she acknowledged that he was incredibly handsome. Then he opened his mouth… _Well, he may be a possessive jerk, but he's still handsome._ She admired his hair, his eyes, and was moving down his lean, well-built body (and undressing him with her eyes). Then he did something that halted all of her perverted thoughts.

He tilted his head back and howled… a dog howling at the moon!

His howl sounded exactly like a dog, and if Miroku and Sango could hear it back at camp, they would have said that it was just some wild dog.

Kagome's jaw dropped. When Inuyasha was with the group, for the most part, he seemed to act completely human. Sure, he shook himself dry, used his hind leg to scratch his ears, and occasionally whined or growled. But she never expected that he was compelled to howl at the moon!

Still, he yodeled on, howling away like a mad dog. She fought the overwhelming urge to laugh, and won for a short time. But then a single snort escaped her lips.

As expected, Inuyasha's ears swiveled to her hiding place and the howling stopped instantly. Inuyasha froze, horrified. Now that the stupid full-moon spell was broken, he could smell Kagome's unmistakable scent.

_Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! She heard me howling like a damn dog!_ Inuyasha cursed to himself. _Stupid full moon and stupid instincts!_

"Wow… Inuyasha…" Kagome giggled as she stepped out of her hiding place. "I've never heard you quite so vocal before."

_Okay, only one way to get out of this!_ Inuyasha thought to himself. _Step one: Will blush to fade! Step two: Facial expression set to cynical! Step three: Brush it off as nothing!_

Once the first two steps were complete, he stood and faced Kagome. "Feh. Stupid wench. What're you doing out here in the forest?"

"I came to tell you that your ramen is ready." Kagome couldn't stop sniggering. "But if you're too busy howling at the moon, I could always come back later."

"Oi, bitch, I was _not_ howling at the moon!" Inuyasha grumbled. "I was…" He trailed off. _Shit! There's no excuse for what I was doing!_

"You were what, Inuyasha? It certainly looking like howling to me!"

"Hey! I was not…" Kagome narrowed her eyes, and Inuyasha growled loudly. "Okay, fine! I _was_ howling at the damn moon! The moron dog in me hates the God-damned thing!"

"Inuyasha! Calm down!" Kagome said. "It was funny, but you know that you don't have to hide your inner-dog around us. We all accept you, Inuyasha. Now, come back to camp, and I'll re-heat your ramen."

"Err… okay." Inuyasha said as he began to follow her through the woods.

"So, Inuyasha…" Kagome began lecherously. "I'll take it you're a Screamer?"

"A what?" Inuyasha asked, confused.

"Never mind!"

* * *

**LES: End of the first one-shot! I have a couple ideas for dog-like things Inuyasha could get caught doing, but I'm always up for requests! Ever saw a dog do something really embarrassing? Let me know, and I'll probably work out a story for it! I'll give the proper credit to the person who came up with the idea!**


	2. Death By Itching

**Chapter II: Death By Itching!**

Inuyasha quickly scanned the surrounding forest, making sure that he had the all-clear. Thankfully, the fact that he was going out of his mind had no effect on his dog-senses.

Once he was sure he was alone, he stripped off his fire-rat haori and undershirt. Without wasting a second, he attacked himself, scratching and gnawing at his own skin without mercy.

He scratched and gnawed until he blood flowed, but the damn itch was still to be relieved.

"Damn it!" Inuyasha swore, continuing to scratch at every inch of his body that he could reach.

It had started after he last got back from Kagome's time. One minute, he was fine, and then the next… he was itching himself to hell.

So far, he had done a pretty good job of hiding how much he itched. No one seemed to notice his near-constant scratching. He stopped scratching and licked at his self-inflicted wounds. His Yokai saliva quickly stopped the bleeding.

"Damn it! What the hell is wrong with me?!" Inuyasha growled to himself before he put back on his clothes and headed back to Kaede's village.

* * *

Back in the village, Miroku and Sango were watching Shippo rolling around frantically in the dirt. They choose to assume that he was just being a kid. But still, Kagome had taken the time to groom him before she left for her own time days ago, and now he was getting filthy again.

"Shippo, you know that Kagome won't be happy about you getting dirty." Sango called at him.

"I can't… help it!" Shippo called, rolling around even more frantically. "I…itch!"

"Itch?" Miroku asked. "Well, aren't you over-reacting? Just scratch the offending spot."

"But I itch everywhere!"

"Shippo, come here." Sango called.

Shippo got up and moved over to Sango, still scratching himself frantically.

As he approached Sango, she began to comb her fingers through his hair and over his skin. Finally, she gasped. "Shippo! You have fleas!"

"Like Myoga?"

"Regular fleas and a lot of them!" Sango gasped. "Get away!"

Shippo moved away, still scratching frantically. "We'll inform Kagome when she gets back from her era." Miroku commented.

"Tell me what?" Kagome asked, walking up. "Sorry I'm late, but my cat has fleas."

"Fleas? What an odd coincidence. Shippo has fleas too." Miroku said.

"Fleas? Wow… that is odd. Shippo, when did you start to itch?"

"This morning." Shippo said.

"Buyo got his a week ago." Kagome said. "I'll go back and get some flea shampoo. Anyone else itching?"

"I'm not." Miroku said.

"I'm not." Sango said.

"What about Inuyasha?"

"What about me?" Inuyasha asked, walking up.

"Inuyasha, are you itching?" Kagome asked.

The hanyou's eyes widened. "Why would I be itching?"

"Shippo has fleas." Kagome said. "Let me see." She moved closer to Inuyasha.

The hanyou stepped back. "Hey! I don't _get_ fleas! The only flea that bothers me is a cowardly one named Myoga!"

"Then there's no harm in checking." Kagome grabbed his hair and yanked… hard!

"Ow! Bitch! What do you think you're…?" Inuyasha began to yell.

Kagome suddenly screamed and released the hanyou's hair. "Oh my God! You're _infested_! You are _covered_ in fleas!"

"I am not!" Inuyasha yelled. "I do not get fleas like some stray mutt!" He didn't realize that he was scratching frantically.

"You're digging your own grave." Miroku commented, moving away from the flea-infested hanyou.

"Inuyasha, when you came to my house four days ago, did you mess with the cat?" Kagome asked.

"Feh! I was only playing with it!" Inuyasha defended himself. "It's not like I ever try to eat it!" All the while, he was scratching away. He squatted down and brought his hind leg into the action. "Damn it all to hell!"

"You… you IDIOT! Buyo's had fleas for a week! You got them and brought them back here to Shippo! IDIOT!" Kagome yelled, stomping off. "Go to the hot spring! I'll get Buyo's flea stuff, and that IDIOT a flea collar! SIT!"

Inuyasha crashed face-first to the ground, and soon joined Shippo in rolling around on the ground.

"Kagome's right… he _is_ an idiot." Sango sighed, as she and Miroku kept their distance.

* * *

**LES: I've never had the displeasure of having fleas, but I've had lice before. It is like living in an itchy-creepy-crawly hell. Fleas and lice fall into the same category to me. Damn… even thinking about it makes my head itch. Does Inuyasha actually get a flea collar? You'll see… (Goes to inspect hair.)**


	3. Phantom

**LES: This particular idea came from a conversation that I was having with my Dad on the way home from watching a local theatre performance. I don't remember how we started talking about dog behavior, but then this came up! I just couldn't resist this one, because not only does it make Inuyasha look like a canine fool, but a human idiot!**

**Inuyasha: (hackles raising)**

**LES: Puppy!! (pets him)**

**Chapter III: The Phantom**

It had been several weeks since the whole 'flea' incident, and everyone was very glad that it was all over. It had taxed on everyone's nerves, but Inuyasha's the most.

The futuristic miko had been true to her word, and produced the 'flea collar', which was a plastic thing that smelled of chemicals. She had forced it around the angry hanyou's neck while he was sitted. Inuyasha had tried to rip off the embarrassing thing several times, but the damn thing had a sutra on it, and he could no more rip it off than the damn beads around his neck.

So he had gone around for several weeks with the double humiliation around his neck, the cursed rosary, and the damn collar.

In fact, the only good thing that came of the fleas was the day that Sesshomaru decided to show up and put his half-breed half-brother out of his 'misery'. Instead of going for the Tetsusaiga at his hip like normal, Inuyasha had rushed up and embraced his older brother; which not only shocked Sesshomaru, but everyone who witnessed the event.

Sesshomaru left without another word, but the evil of Inuyasha's actions were realized days later when Sesshomaru returned, scratching himself all over, and screamed that the hanyou had cursed him with an itching disease.

Kagome, Miroku, Sango, and Shippo all laughed themselves silly at the fact that Inuyasha had given Sesshomaru his fleas.

But, with time, the fleas died, the flea collar was removed, and everyone decided that it was time to move on with their lives… except for Inuyasha, of course.

"Damn wench!" Inuyasha grumbled to himself, stomping towards the Bone Eater's well. Kagome had left through the Bone Eater's well only minutes after she had removed the flea collar. Perhaps because she had known that he would not be pleased. "Put a collar on ME will you? Bitch needs to be taught her place…" 

He jumped into the well, and got pulled down by the time slip. On the other side of the well in Kagome's era, he leapt out of the well, still muttering to himself. "I've been too soft on her. Let her get away with too much shit. _Well it ends now!_ She's gonna get a piece of _my_ mind, I'll tell you that much…" He leapt up to Kagome's window, and wrenched it open. "Oi, Kagome!" He stuck his head inside, and froze. She wasn't there. No one was there. He sniffed, and could smell no one in the house.

He carefully slipped into Kagome's room. _Where is everyone? It's the middle of the afternoon… someone should be here…_ He carefully moved through-out the house, checking every room. But there was no sign of life. That is… until he went back into Kagome's room.

He saw movement in the corner of his eye and froze, turning around. What he saw made him both angry and confused. _Another _Inu-hanyou was in Kagome's room!! He stood frozen in shock, and the _other_ did the same. He sniffed, but couldn't smell the _other_. _How can that be?_ Inuyasha questioned himself.

Slowly, he moved forward, and the _other _did the same. Inuyasha growled, and the _other_ also lifted his lips in a snarl. _How dare he come into my bitch's room and threaten me!_

Inuyasha's mane bristled, and the _other _still sought to fight him by displaying his own intentions. "My bitch!" Inuyasha hissed, crouching down on all fours in an Inu fighting stance. His rival did the same.

* * *

Kagome entered the house with a sigh. _Well, that could have gone worse…_ Once again, her three friends had grilled her heavily about Inuyasha and repeatedly warned her not to fall in love with such a brash and rude two-timer of a man. Little did they know… they were too late.

But, still, she had no desire to see her hanyou at the moment, as he would still be pissed off about the flea collar. She _did_ regret doing such a thing to him, but it _had_ helped with his fleas, and that was something that everyone else was grateful for.

She could barely stand the look of humiliation in the hanyou's eyes when she had forced the thing on him, and knew that it would be quite some time before he would be able to forgive her… if he forgave her at all.

He made her way up the stairs and suddenly heard the sound of Inuyasha growling. _Is he that pissed at me?_ Kagome froze, wondering if she should escape him through the well.

_But… I can't keep running from him. Every couple has their problems, and they overcome that by talking and working things out. I'm gonna have to be mature and talk to Inuyasha… without becoming emotional and sitting him._

She opened her bedroom door, and gasped at the sight she saw. Inuyasha was on all fours, his mane bristled with anger. But he wasn't facing her, and hadn't even noticed her come in. Instead, he was face-to-face with her mirror, snarling at his own reflection.

"Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha now gave her a snarl. "Back _away_, Kagome! I don't know who this bastard is, but you ain't nobody's bitch but _mine_!"

"Inuyasha! Snap out of it!" She moved over and pulled him away from the mirror. "Dummy! That's your reflection! You've seen my mirror before!"

Inuyasha now stared at the image in confusion. Kagome's doppelganger had now joined the Inu-hanyou and was holding him away just as Kagome was doing to him. It took a few seconds for the wheels in his brain to turn, but when they did, he swore at his stupidity. "Damnit! DAMNIT! Of _course_ it's a mirror! How could I have been so stupid?!"

Kagome embraced him, pulling him out of the mirror's reflective surface so that it was no longer a distraction for him. "Don't worry about it. It is close to the full moon, and your Inu instincts are much stronger at the time. All an Inu would see is another strange dog with no scent. Of course it confused you."

"But I'm not an Inu! I have a _brain_! I should have realized…"

"Inuyasha, it's all right." Kagome rested her cheek against his chest, allowing herself to hear his heartbeat. "Inuyasha?"

"What?"

"What did you mean when you said that 'I'm nobody's bitch but yours'?" Kagome asked. "Did you mean 'bitch' as in a female dog?"

"Huh? Did I say that?" Inuyasha snorted. "Feh. Must've heard me wrong, wench. I said 'Shard Collector'."

_Oh, Inuyasha, my human ears aren't as good as yours, but they aren't that bad._ "Oh, that's too bad. Because, you know what…?"

"What?"

She leaned up and kissed the hanyou. Inuyasha froze in shock for several seconds before his golden eyes drifted closed and he returned her passion. But it was rather short. Kagome pulled away quickly. "I'll be your bitch anytime."

* * *

**LES: The idea about Sesshomaru also getting fleas comes from GodOfStorms. I just thought that it was too funny to pass up! My own dog has done this. I have a full-length mirror in my room, and sometimes she would catch her reflection in it and stare, almost as if she couldn't understand what she was seeing. It makes me wonder if television is confusing to dogs. They can see and hear the people on the screen, but not smell them. Well, that's enough of that. Next chapter will probably be a request unless I come up with another idea. Yep, requests are still open. Dogs do lots of funny things! Let me hear about it, and you might see Inuyasha doing it! I'll always give full credit to the one who came up with the idea, of course.**


	4. Marked

**LES: This idea was provided by GodOfStorms in the same review in which they mentioned that Sesshomaru could get fleas from Inuyasha. So far, I've gotten several good ideas, and I think that this idea would connect well to an idea that I've had myself. If bodily functions bother you… come on! It's perfectly natural! Warning: Mention of bodily functions. And, no, I'm not referring to a 'mating mark' of any kind… yet…**

**Chapter IV: Marked**

Miroku and Sango watched from the shadows, staring across the clearing at the strange behavior of their friends. Inuyasha and Kagome were in the middle on one of their petty arguments. But Miroku and Sango both had the impression that they had forgotten what they were arguing about some time ago.

Their argument had carried them all the way to the Bone Eater's Well, where they continued to scream at each other, flipping between different reasons for being angry faster than Naraku changed his body. Kikyo… some guy named Hojo… his rudeness… her having to go back home to take tests… The argument was all over the place.

"Do you notice something odd about them?" Miroku asked his companion.

"Yeah. It's like they are searching for a reason to argue." Sango said. "Maybe… in a strange way… they actually _like_ arguing with each other…"

Their thoughts were cut off when the argument apparently reached a head and Kagome slapped Inuyasha across the face. It didn't seem to hurt him, but he couldn't wipe that shocked expression off his face. "Bitch!" He hissed.

"I'm going home, Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled at him, not wasting a second to jump into the Bone Eater's Well.

Inuyasha snarled loudly, paced past the Bone Eater's Well twice, before he jumped in after her.

Miroku and Sango watched in amazement. "Well… that was certainly odd." The monk commented.

"Yes. I've never seen Kagome _slap_ Inuyasha before." Sango said.

"Yeah. She usually just sits him. It's certainly a much better punishment than a slap. It probably did nothing but shock him."

"Well… we know that she cares about him… so maybe she's trying _not_ to sit him any more…" She trailed off and her face went red as she felt a familiar pressure on her rear. Miroku's cursed lecherous hand was stroking her butt once again. "Hentai!" She yelled as she slapped him, probably a much more effective punishment than the one Kagome had just given Inuyasha.

* * *

Inuyasha leapt out of the well on Kagome's side, and saw that she was waiting for him inside the mini-shrine that housed the well. She immediately fell into his embrace and they kissed.

"Do you think they noticed?" Kagome asked.

"I don't see why." Inuyasha commented. "After all, this must've happened a hundred times."

Kagome ran her soft fingers over his face where she had slapped him. "I'm sorry about the slap. But I didn't want to 's' you."

"Feh. It's nothing, wench. Hardly felt it." Inuyasha insisted, kissing her again, more passionately this time.

Kagome buried her hands in his mane, pulling him closer to her. She tilted her head, into an angle that she loved, which allowed her to taste him as their lips massaged each other.

They had been meeting in secret for weeks for private make-out sessions. Even since the 'mirror' incident, which Kagome had kept to herself. But they both discovered that they could have so much more privacy in her time. It wasn't about location, as the Feudal era was full of places where they could slip off for a private moment; it was the people. Miroku and Sango weren't blind or ignorant, and had definitely noticed the number of times they had slipped off, but were tasteful enough not to discuss. Shippo was another matter. He had begun to comment, loudly, on how Inuyasha and Kagome smelled more similar all the time. Even if what the meaning of it escaped him, it was not lost on any adults who were in the vicinity at that time.

Of course, they hadn't joined as mates yet, but Inuyasha had pretty much shown his intentions and staked his claim to her. He cared for her and defended her as if they were mates. Inuyasha did fully intend on making Kagome his mate, but he wanted her to understand fully what that meant before he did such a thing. Not to mention that he wanted her to be ready and comfortable for such an act.

So, for now, they enjoyed their small private moments.

Kagome reluctantly pulled away from Inuyasha, grinning a little shyly as she did at the end of all their 'sessions'. "I've got to go now, Inuyasha."

"You've got to go to that 'school' thing? Do you have to?" Inuyasha begged, acting more like a lonely puppy than anything.

"Yes, I have to." Kagome said. "Nobility, monks, and scholars might be the only ones who are educated in your time, but in my time, if you aren't educated, you are ignorant. And you can't get a good job. I'm probably not going to spend the rest of my life hunting for Shikon shards."

"Oh." Inuyasha said. It was yet another reminder that their lives were still so uncertain. What would happen once all the shards were found? Would Kagome return to her own time, or would she possibly consent to stay with him in his own time? _Well… no matter what she picks, I'll go with her._ Inuyasha thought to himself.

She pulled out of his arms and gave him a small kiss goodbye. "Stay in the Shrine. I'm sure that Mom will have some Ramen for you."

_More likely I'll end up doing some more heavy lifting for your Grandfather._ "Sure. Ramen sounds good."

_That's an understatement if I ever heard one._ Kagome laughed to herself. "Behave yourself." She told him as she took off.

Inuyasha stepped part-way out of the Well house and watched as Kagome skipped down the steps to the street below. Right after her, Sota came out of the house and spotted Inuyasha, who the boy hero-worshipped.

"Inuyasha! How are you? Where's Kagome?" The boy asked, staring up at the hanyou in awe.

Inuyasha had never been a hundred percent comfortable with the awe Kagome's little brother had for him. In his own era, he was used to people treating him like a filthy beast that deserved to be drowned at birth, not treated with reverence by a young boy. And, because of his discomfort, he grew even more silent when the boy was around. He didn't answer Sota's first question, but simply pointed at the shrine steps to indicate that Kagome had already left.

"Okay! You'll still be here after school, right? I wanna show you some of my new manga!" Sota waved at the hanyou as he took off.

Inuyasha sighed and relented himself to spending a confusing afternoon with Kagome's little brother, who always insisted on showing off the newest things his mother bought him, things that Inuyasha didn't understand in the slightest: 'movies', 'videogames', and 'manga'. It all went over his head, but he listened to the boy patiently as he tried to explain even the simplest concepts to the hanyou from the past.

It made the hanyou feel a little stupid. Sure, he was much more educated than most in his era, being able to read and write, but Kagome's era baffled him. But another, more rational part of him knew that he was stupid for thinking that he was stupid for not understanding the things Kagome and her brother did. After all, seven hundred years separated the year of his birth from Kagome's time. Humans had obviously learned quite a lot in that time. How to move giant metal contraptions for carrying people without horses or their own power… how to make magical images appear on the 'box'… how huge metal tubes could fly through the air like birds.

He figured that it wouldn't be long before Kagome's grandfather found him and convinced him to help rearrange the shrine's shed, so he decided to take a nap in the Goshinboku while he waited for the inevitable.

He found his favorite branch, unchanged for five hundred years, and settled down on it. He would be perfectly out-of-sight from any visitors the shrine had, so he settled down and slept easily.

* * *

Inuyasha woke suddenly with a burning sensation in his abdomen. At first, he thought that he had become aroused by his dreams, but it only took him a second to realize that _that _was not the issue. He could not smell arousal on him at all, and he was not hard. A few seconds later, it hit him. It was an overwhelming urge to take a piss, and it simply could _not_ wait!

The idea of using the family's 'toilet' room repulsed him. Sota had one time tried to explain the purpose of the room, and when he had flushed the toilet to demonstrate, the rush of noise had freaked the hanyou out, and thereafter, refused to step into the bathroom at all, convinced that it was a torture room. The 'shower' tortured him with boiling water, and the 'toilet' tortured him with loud noises. Nor did he feel like he had the time to rush back to the Feudal era.

So with little other choice, he jumped down from the Goshinboku, moved across the Shrine too quickly for the humans looking at the Well house to notice, and found himself in the middle of the small grove of trees on the Shrine grounds.

He fumbled with the ties of his hakama until he was exposed and relieved himself on one of the trees. He shuttered, surprised at his own reaction. It was almost like a release, like he would have been driven crazy if he had waited another second to do this.

For as strong as the urge was, it didn't last long at all. Confused, he re-did the ties of his hakama and decided to go and hide in Kagome's room for the rest of the day. But, on the way there, he got… side-tracked.

* * *

"Aw! He's so cute!" Kagome squealed. Her friend Ayumi had just gotten a puppy. And, surprise, surprise, the dog reminded her greatly of Inuyasha. It had medium-length silver fur, expressive golden eyes, and cute triangular ears. Ayumi had called the little puppy 'Shippou', which meant 'Silver'. Kagome laughed, thinking of her own little Shippo.

"I know!" Ayumi was, without a doubt, already in love with the little puppy. "I couldn't believe it when mom said that I could get a dog. And then I saw this one… I just knew that he was _my_ little Inu!"

"Well… dogs do have that special way of connecting with someone." Kagome said, speaking both about Inuyasha and little Shippou, thought Ayumi didn't have to know that.

"You know what I was thinking… Shippou's awfully similar to your boyfriend… you know, with the silver hair and golden eyes. And his name… _Inu_yasha! What are his parents like, to have named their son 'Dog Demon'?"

_Well, his father WAS a Dog Demon… in fact, he was the Demon Lord of the West over seven hundred years ago, and his mother was a mortal Princess who died seven hundred years ago. _But she couldn't say that, so she made something up. "I've never met them." _Well… that's sort of true…_

"Oh. You mean that he's spent all that time at your shrine, and you haven't met _his_ family yet?" Ayumi gasped in shock.

_Well, I've met his brother, but they are always trying to kill each other… literally._ She walked up the Shrine steps; Ayumi followed her up the stairs, still holding the puppy. Kagome was sure that Sota would want to see it too. She just hoped that Inuyasha would be able to contain himself a little more.

Almost as soon as they entered the shrine boundaries, Shippou began to whine loudly and try to escape Ayumi's grip. "Shippou? What's wrong?" Of course, the little pup wouldn't respond beyond whining louder and trying to escape more frantically. "I don't understand… he's been so calm!"

"Maybe it's our cat." Kagome suggested. "Inuya…" She trailed off. She wasn't about to tell Ayumi that her boyfriend chased the cat.

"But there were a ton of cats at that shelter. He should be used to the smell."

"I'll go see what's going on." Kagome said. She ran off, hoping to find Inuyasha. If his howling weeks ago hadn't shown anything, it was that he _could _speak the Inu language. He probably would be able to tell what was upsetting the puppy. She went around the back of the house, and froze solid in her tracks.

Inuyasha was behind the house, one hand supporting himself against the wall, and the other… _Oh God…_ He was… relieving himself. In fact, Kagome noted, her face going red, there were tell-tale signs of him having _relieved himself_ all over the place!

"Inuyasha!" Kagome gasped.

Inuyasha's business stopped immediately and he froze in place. _God-damnit! Why now?!_ He turned to face Kagome, hastily tying up his hakama. "Um… this isn't what it looks like…"

_Oh my God! He's scent-marking!_ Kagome realized. That's probably why the puppy had freaked out when he got into the Shrine. Inuyasha had effectively 'marked it as his territory'. The puppy realized that a very dominate alpha dog had been all over the territory and freaked out.

"You can stop." For his sake, she didn't laugh, after all, for an alpha dog; it was perfectly natural to mark his territory. "This place is _yours_ now."

Inuyasha stared at her. After the first several times he had pissed on stuff without being relieved, he realized what he was being driven to do, and just let himself give in to his instincts, because it was a lot easier for him to simply give in. But he hadn't expected her to understand. "How…?"  
"Ayumi brought her puppy here and it freaked out when it came into the Shrine grounds. This place is yours! Now, can you please come help us take care of little Shippou? He's scared out of his wits."

Inuyasha silently followed Kagome, adjusting his bandana so that his ears wouldn't show. Once he got to Kagome's friend holding the small silver puppy, he took the pup and cooed softly to it in Inu, making it understand that, while he was alpha and this was his territory, he wasn't going to hurt him.

Ayumi stared, for all she could tell, Inuyasha was cooing at that pup, and it was whining back. Kagome butted it. "Inuyasha's worked with a lot of animals before, but he's really good with dogs."

_Again with the Inu stuff…_ Ayumi thought. _This boy really lives up to his name._

"There." Inuyasha said, handing the girl back her dog. "All better now."

"Thanks. He's probably just a little nervous. He's met so many new people today. I'll come show him to Sota for you tomorrow." Ayumi left. "Thanks, Inuyasha, for calming him down."

After several seconds, Inuyasha turned to face Kagome. "Kagome, I…"

"I understand, Inuyasha." Kagome said. "As if I haven't learned that you are more like a dog than we thought the last few weeks. As long as you understand that there's no way I'm gonna let you pee on me!"

"What?!"

* * *

**LES: Learning interesting things is always fun. And, just for fun, I went to my online English-to-Japanese translator to see if 'Inuyasha' really meant Dog Demon. I admit that I was confused before, cause 'Inu' means 'dog', and 'yokai' means 'demon', so if that were true, his name would have been Inuyokai, not Inuyasha. So, I typed in 'demon' and, true enough, 'yasha' does not mean demon… but its close… Yasha really means 'female demon'. So Inuyasha's name **_**really**_** means 'Female Dog Demon', or… to put it simply… Bitch!**

**Inuyasha: Who **_**cares**_** what my name really means!**

**LES: That shows what your father thought of you. Either that, or your father really **_**was**_** insane. Anyway, I just thought that it was funny, naming a male Inu-hanyou 'Female Dog Demon'.**


End file.
